Goblin's Lair

[IntrepidTraveler]

Well, a month or so ago I wanted to go to Gobin's Lair, in Goblin Valley State Park, UT. Events conspired against me (my wife's dad passed away), so I didn't get to go then. However, I did talke a long weekend this past weekend to make the pilgrimage, and it was quite enjoyable.

Caveat 1 - I went solo, so no pictures. It's hard to take pics of yourself by yourself!

Caveat 2 - I'm an old bald fat white guy. (If it must be known, 53 years old, 230#, 5' 9".) However, I'm relatively technically competent, having climbed quite a bit (and guided) in my younger days. And I try to stay fit and have no problem hiking for miles.

I found the trip and got route information from the climb-utah.com website. I'm not going to give detailed route info here, as it's available there, and his site is a paid site so I don't want to take revenue from him. I am very impressed with the climb-utah.com website, if I can give it a plug. It has good (and accurate) route information, it's organized well, you can find things to do by interest or difficulty, and it has pictures, GPS coordinates and maps.

I got to the park about 0930, signed in, got gear sorted and packed, and was hiking by 1000. It took maybe 30 minutes to get to the rappel point. I had no trouble following the route discription, and made it there without incident.

The rappel is done anchoring off of a large horn at the top of the cave. The horn is very solid, and there were three slings in place, with a rap ring and quick link. I had two 30M 8mm ropes, which I was assured (by Iceaxe in an earlier "Invite" post) were long enough. I rigged the rap and started down. You can't really tell if the ropes are long enough until you are over the edge. They were, by 10-15'. The rap was easy, a free rap for maybe the last half.

After pulling the ropes and stowing gear, I headed out of the chamber by the exit route. It was an easy scrambleup, then down. Continuing counter-clockwise around the same rock formation that I started toward at the beginning of the morning, I eventually encountered the somewhat faint and cairned Molly's Castle Overlook trail, which I followed back to the road.

All in all, it took me just over two hours, and was a very enjoyable trip. This would be an excellent introduction trip to technical canyoneering to the newbie.

On leaving the park, I signed back out at the visitor's center. They ask you to get a permit (free, although you still need to pay the $7 park access fee) before doing the route, which was some comfort to me, as at least someone knew where I would be and could come find me (or my remains) if something happened.

[Mountaineer]

Thanks for the report. Does it appear lots of hikers know about this place, but then turn back at the rap point?

[Iceaxe]

I am very impressed with the climb-utah.com website, if I can give it a plug. It has good (and accurate) route information, it's organized well, you can find things to do by interest or difficulty, and it has pictures, GPS coordinates and maps.

Thanks for the endorsement and the TR.

Does it appear lots of hikers know about this place, but then turn back at the rap point?

Hikers visit from the bottom, not from the top. There is really no disernable trail in from the top other then the normal hiker footprints found throughout Goblin Valley. But there is a fairly well defined use trail entering the Lair from the bottom that has been used by hikers "in the know" for quite some time. You really can't see anything from the top, so if you are a hiker just reverse the technical route and you will get a cool hike to an impressive feature.

[IntrepidTraveler]

Thanks for the endorsement and the TR.

Iceaxe, I take it climb-utah is yours? I really do appreciate it as a resource. I came across it first when researching a trip to the Cedar Mesa area to visit ruins, and found it more comprehensive and accurate than anything else out there, in print or on the web. It is really a valuable resource to me!

Mountaineer, getting to the rap point involves scrambling down a short slot canyon on top of the formation. There are a couple of places that would deter the casual hiker, IMHO.

[Iceaxe]

Iceaxe, I take it climb-utah is yours? I really do appreciate it as a resource.

Yes Sir.... Climb-Utah is my child.

[Kuya]

That rappel is one of my favs!!